East Liverpool, OH—Abnormally high levels of the toxic metal, manganese, were found on the premises of LaCroft Elementary, according to information provided by USA Today. Officials from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) allegedly reported that the air samples taken outside the elementary school, located in East Liverpool, Ohio, exhibited levels of manganese, which greatly exceeded the government safety limits in regards to long-term exposure to the dangerous metal.

It was reported that nine samples taken at LaCroft Elementary revealed levels of manganese that were two times higher than the standard set by the EPA for long-term exposure to the toxin. A sample taken from the air outside the school in September allegedly revealed that the presence of manganese was twelve times the government standard.

When USA Today reportedly conducted an investigation showing how hundreds of schools across the United States had air that was polluted with high levels of toxic industrial chemicals, the EPA started a $2.25 million program to collect and monitor air samples taken from 63 schools in a total of 22 states. Samples taken from a school in Marietta, Ohio, as well as Vienna, West Virginia, also allegedly demonstrated excessively high levels of the toxic metal.

Manganese has been known to allegedly cause mental and emotional problems with long-term exposure.